Current assets and liabilities of the electricity, gas, water and waste services industry in New Zealand

Financial years 2013–2017, NZD millions

About this data

Definitions

Business (KAU, or kind-of-activity unit): An enterprise subdivision that is engaged in predominantly one activity and for which a single set of accounting records is available.

Return on total assets: Total current year taxable profit divided by total assets. This ratio tests the efficiency of investment in fixed assets and is a measure of how effectively the business has converted these assets into net income.
Return on total equity: Total current year taxable profit divided by total proprietor or shareholder funds. The return on equity represents the rate of return earned on the owner’s equity and investment.
Current ratio: Total current assets divided by total current liabilities. This ratio gives an indication of a business’s ability to pay its short term liabilities.
Quick ratio: Total current assets minus closing stock divided by total current liabilities. The quick ratio, also known as the acid test, is very similar to the current ratio, but excludes stock. It tests a business’s ability to pay short-term debt from immediately convertible or liquid assets.
Liabilities structure: Total proprietor or shareholder funds divided by (total proprietor or shareholder funds plus total liabilities). The liability structure ratio represents equity solely as a proportion of equity plus liabilities. A low ratio indicates a low level of owner’s equity in the business, and a higher risk to debt holders.
Margin on sales of goods for resale: Sales of goods not further processed less purchases of goods bought for resale, as a percentage of sales of goods not further processed.

Limitations of the data

Data for the 2017 financial year is provisional.
The AES data is to be used with caution below industry design level (NZSIOC level 4). The survey is not designed to support analysis below this level.

Exclusions

Some industries are excluded on statistical grounds due to the difficulty of collecting the data from respondents: superannuation funds (K6330), residential property operators (L6711), foreign government representation (O7552), religious services (S9540), private households employing staff and undifferentiated goods and service-producing activities of households for own use (S960).
Non-market government units have not been included in the AES population for all data published since the AES 2015.

Businesses that are not economically significant are not selected into the AES.

Dataset originally released on:

June 29, 2018

About this dataset

The Annual Enterprise Survey (AES) is New Zealand’s most comprehensive source of financial statistics covering almost 469,000 businesses. It provides annual information on the financial performance and financial position for industry groups operating in New Zealand. The AES was designed as the principal collection vehicle of data used in the compilation of New Zealand's national accounts. Data used in this survey is compiled from a number of sources and measures industry levels for a given year. Incremental improvements in measurement, sample design, classification, and data collection may influence the inter-period movements, particularly over longer time periods.